Torchwood Four
by AnnaLOL
Summary: Torchwood Four went missing. 'It's true. We did go missing. If you look at it, it does seem like we simply, fell off the face of the planet. The truth is, we didn't fall off the face of this planet, we just simply went to another one.'
1. Chapter 1

Torchwood Four  
>Chapter One<br>the ones who went missing

"They'll show up somewhere."

It's true. We did go missing. If you look at it, it does seem like we simply, fell off the face of the planet. The truth is, we didn't fall off the face of this planet, we just simply went to another one.

My name is Sammi Rogers. I was the 'technical consultant' for Torchwood Four. My job was to study and discover the uses of any and all alien technology we came across. It was also my job to build technology that they would need. I built anything from lock picks to specialized guns. I enjoyed my job. I had had an obsession with the paranormal and alien ever since I was a small child, and the opportunity to study their works was once in a life time.

The truth is, we were sent to another planet. It happened on a job really. We were called in to investigate a disturbance inside of a sea side warehouse. When we got there, there was this machine sitting dead in the center. That's when our disappearance story began.

"What do you think it is?" Tobi was our 'medical examiner'. It was his job to make sure none of us died, and if we got hurt, it was up to him to make us better. He was very good at his job, but he was actually better at examining aliens than he was at examining people. If alien doctor was a profession, I'm sure he'd be the one to start it, lead it, and make the most money from it.

"I'm not sure, don't go near it," Janet McCracken, a.k.a. Mac, was the leader of our group. She was raised by two mix-martial artists and she could literally kick your head so hard that your neck would snap in half. She is a bit hot headed, but she'll only lash out at you if you've done something wrong. The rule of thumb for her is that if she's mad at you, there's a reason.

"Sammi, you make anything of this?" Aaron was the uselessness. At least that's what we call him behind his back. In all honesty, we're not really sure why he's still around here. I mean, it's not like he messes anything up, but he really doesn't have a specialty. He's pretty much just a field agent I guess.

"It's like nothing I've ever seen," I shook my head and looked at the others.

"Don't we pay you to look at things you've never seen before?" Mac mentioned.

"Well I would investigate it further, but you're the one who said not to go near it," I reminded her.

Mac raised an eyebrow and looked back at me. "Please, be my guest," She motioned to the device with her hand. I sighed and rolled my eyes before walking up to the machine.

The machine was tall and surrounded by pipes and wires. There was a large glass cylinder in the middle and the whole thing was dark. "It looks like it could be some kind of generator. But I don't see any power switch."

"It can't just be a generator," Tobi said. "Otherwise we wouldn't have been called in."

"Well I know that," I replied. "I'm just saying that's what it looks like."

"What if it's a bomb?" Aaron offered. "Or like some kind of cold fusion machine."

"It's too small to be a fusion machine," I informed him. "Besides if someone invented a working cold fusion machine, they wouldn't just leave it around."

"But what if it doesn't work," he replied. "They could have like, blown up half a city and now they're trying to get rid of it or something."

I was getting ready to refute that statement when the device started to whirl to life. It made a sound like nothing I've ever heard and suddenly it flashed with different colors. I backed away from it and stood with the others.

"What did you do?" Mac accused.

"It wasn't me, I didn't even touch it!" I explained.

Before another word could be spoken there was a large flash of white and I felt like I was being stretched out wide. I blacked out. But when I came to, I knew I wasn't on Earth anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

Torchwood Four  
>Chapter Two<br>All the people are dead

"Death is funny in that it brings out the best and worst in people. It casts light on the truth and makes life blindingly clear."

-Allison DuBois

I awoke to the smell of something burning. I could taste the smoke in my mouth, the taste of it stuck on my tongue and I was certain it would never leave. I found the power to slowly pry my eyes open. I was lying in a forest. Broken leaves were stuck to my face and trees cast shadows over my body. I was face down and then the taste of dirt mixed with that with smoke.

Once I was able to function my mind properly the first conclusion I came to was that the forest I was in was on fire. I stood up and the blood rushed from my head, making me lean against a tree for support. I didn't see any smoke, so I figured it was safe to say that the forest was safe…from fire any way.

I followed my nose and made my way to where I could hear fire crackling. Pushing aside some overly large bushes I managed to see a small clearing where there were no trees and no leaves. The sun shone bright and I could clearly see Mac sleeping next to a fire that was slowly dwindling.

I quickly ran up to her and she sat up at the noise.

"Oh, it's you," she put the knife she had drawn from her boot back in place. "Where've you been?"

"Just over there a little," I motioned back with my head and then sat down across the fire. "Where're the others?"

"Don't know," Mac shrugged. "If that machine really was a rift, then they could be anywhere. It's really a miracle we both ended up in the same place."

"I'm sure they're around here somewhere," I told her. "I just want to know who made that rift…and how they did it."

"I just want to know how to get back," Mac ran her hand through her hair and then started braiding it back. "I don't know if we could."

"What, can't just build another one?" She asked me.

"Are you insane? I know very little about that, especially not enough to build one. Plus, even if we did manage to make one, there's no way we'd ever be certain that we would end up back on earth. We could end up on another planet, the sun even!"

"Alright, just calm down. First thing we should do is search around, see if there's any form of intelligent life around here."

"Just because they're intelligent doesn't mean that not going to kill us," I stood up after Mac and the two of us started to walk through the forest, listening for any sound. The sound we heard was a scream, the type of scream someone freaking out would make. It sounded familiar.

We followed the sound to a place deeper (at least I assume it's deeper) into the forest to where the trees started getting taller. We found Aaron sitting on the ground like he had fallen over backwards. He was the one screaming and his stare was fixated on the tree before him.

The tree held the remains of three people in it; a man and a woman and a child. They were hanging from the tree, what looked like large fangs were stuck through their ribcages, right where their hearts would be. Most of their bones had fallen and lay at a pile on the ground, only the bones attached strongly to the ribcage were left on the tree. It looked like they were offerings, sacrifices to someone, or something.

"Seriously?" Mac put her hands on her hips and stared disapprovingly at Aaron. "You fight aliens and monsters on a daily basis and this freaks you out?"

"Well living aliens and monsters aren't dead people!" Aaron replied, staggering to his feet. "Besides, we don't know what did this. It could still be here, and it could be looking for more people to kill!"

"Would you just calm down?" Mac ordered. "We're gunna be fine."

"How do you know that!" Aaron accused.

"Because whatever did this is probably long gone by now," Tobi answered. He had stepped out from behind the other side of the tree and had probably been led here due to Aaron's screams.

"What makes you say that?" Aarons asked.

"Just look at them," Tobi pointed to the people. "Just look at them. They're completely skeletonized. Plus, the bones, their like dust," to prove this fact, Tobi picked up one of the bones and it crumbled between his fingers. "I'd say they've been dead for a long time. If anything with a normal life span did this, they'd be dead by now."

"But how do we know that it has a normal lifespan!" Aaron argued. "I mean, how do we know it's not like a vampire or something!"

"Because vampires suck people's blood, not pin them to trees," I told him.

"I'm just saying that we don't know anything about this thing ok. So we can't just safely assume that we're going to be ok," He argued back.

"Ok, everyone just calm down," Mac said. "It's more likely than not that these people came from somewhere right?" Everyone nodded. "Ok, so let's go find that place and see if anyone or thing is still alive."

Mac stared walking in the direction that Tobi had come from. Tobi immediately started following and I waited until Aaron was done staring in shock at the skeletons before I began to follow them. The whole time we walked Aaron was being paranoid. Every time someone stepped on a twig he would snap his head and ask what that was.

"Really Aaron," Mac shook her head. "This isn't like you. You hit your head on the way down?"

"Well I'm sorry for being a little worried for being on a planet that we know nothing about!" Aaron huffed and finally stopped talking.

"Tobi, is there anything else weird or unusual you say about the bones?" Mac asked.

"They didn't look that unusual," Tobi said. "I'd say they were just like regular human remains."

"Well at least we know that humans can survive on this planet," Aaron sighed relieved.

"Aaron, if we couldn't survive on this planet we'd be dead by now," Mac mentioned.

"Whatever," Aaron turned his head away from her and shut up.

"So what do we plan to do if we do find people?" I asked the group.

"We'll find out if they're friendly or not. If so, we get them to help us, if not, we make sure they don't harm us," Mac replied.

"And how would we do that?" Tobi inquired.

"Let's cross that bridge when we come to it," Mac told him.

We walked on in silence for a few minutes longer. We were all silently assessing the situation in my mind, trying to figure out what was going on, where we were, and how we were supposed to get back home.

"Hey, I think I see something over there," Tobi started to walk off to the right and the rest of us followed him. "Yeah, I definitely see something."

Something was a little village that he been destroyed. Part of the houses had been burned down, parts of them had been broken and were rotting away, and the rest look like they've been smashed into the ground.

"What happened here?" I wondered out loud.

"I'm not sure, but whatever did this obviously isn't friendly," Aaron said.

"I don't see any bodies," Tobi mentioned. "Maybe they all escaped."

"Yeah, either that or they're all just dead somewhere else," I replied.

"You mean like that?"

The three of us walked over to where Mac was standing. Through the trees we could see it. We could see the large pile sitting alone in the middle of the forest. The trees had been smashed in a similar fashion as the houses had, and where they used to be was now the remains of all the people.


	3. Chapter 3

Torchwood Four  
>Chapter Three<br>Moving Trees

"I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do." ~Willa Cather

"So what are we going to do know?" Aaron asked. He had turned away from the pile of bones but the rest of us just couldn't seem to pull our eyes away.

"We survey the area and insure our safety," Mac replied. "After that we figure out how we got here and how we get back."

"I wonder who left that rift there," Tobi said. "Who could have possibly made that?"

"That's just it, no one could," I told them. "I mean…I'm not even sure it was a rift."

"What do you mean? You said it was," Mac replied accusingly.

"No, I said _if_ it was a rift," I reminded her. "It could have been something entirely different."

"Yeah, yeah," Aaron nodded turning back to face us. "We might not even be on another planet!" His whole face lit up like a child in a candy store. "We could just be on some remote island! This might still be Earth!"

"There's only one way to find out," Mac started walking away from the remains and one by one we all followed. "The tree with the bones on it seems to be the tallest one around here. One of us will climb up there and scan the forest, see where it ends, and if there's any sign of other life here."

"But who's going up?" I asked. Everyone looked back at me and gave me that knowing smile. "Oh come on, you can't be serious."

"First to ask is first to go," Mac smiled and then turned back around. "Next time keep your mouth shut."

I crossed my arms in a huff and followed behind them all. Aaron, who was the closest to me, kept looking back with a smile.

"Just shut up and keep walking," I told him forcefully.

Aaron held up his hands defensively. "I didn't say anything."

The walk back to the tree didn't seem nearly as long as the walk back. I looked up at the tree, at the bones still attached to the bark, and I swallowed hard.

"Alrighty then, get on up there," Mac gave me a small shove in the direction of the tree.

"Fine," I mumbled and reached for the lowest branch. I started my ascend and got about half way up without looking down. Once I did, making I the rest of the way seemed harder, I never did seem to get over my fear of heights.

"What do you see?" Mac shouted up to me after I had reached the top. I looked through the leaves and all I could see was more leaves. The whole forest just seemed to stretch out and cover every bit of visible land. I couldn't even see any sign of water.

"Not much," I hollered back down. "Just more forest. That's all that seems to be here."

I didn't hear any response. I looked down but I couldn't see them. I saw the branches moving before I felt the rumble. The limb closest to me curled around and the smaller branches that grew off it started to surround me and they had surprising strength. I grabbed at them and pulled and ripped but the ones that I did manage to break off were just replaced by even more ones.

I heard a pop and looked down to see a whole in the leaves and finally the rest of the team was visible, and audible.

"Sammi! You ok up there!" I heard Mac shout.

"I'm being attacked by branches, but other than that I'm fine!" I replied. The leaves began to reform themselves and soon I was alone again. The branches were now wrapping their way all around my body, trapping my legs, pinning my arms to my body and covering my face.

I slipped away from the top of the tree and the branches let me fall through the sheet of leaves before they jerked me back forcefully against the trunk. My eyes had yet to be covered but my mouth was and I could see my companions but I couldn't say anything to them.

I also saw the rib cages fall to the ground as the branches that were attached to them pushed out from the tree, turning menacingly towards me. I tired, to scream, but found that I couldn't, the branches were spilling sap into my mouth and throat every time I opened my mouth.

I didn't feel the sharp pain as one of the knife like branches made its way through my body. I had closed my eye, prepared to feel the worse, but when I opened them, there the knife was, sticking right through me, and yet I didn't bleed, and I was still in no pain.

But then I felt it. I could literally feel my life flow out of my body and through the branch right to the root underground. It was like I was a part of the tree, like I was keeping it alive. I could feel everything that it felt and I felt someone making their way up to my body.

On my side I saw Mac making slow progress up to me. Once she had arrived she pulled out the sharpest of her three knives and easily cut away the branches from my mouth. "Are you ok?"

"It's sucking my life," I told her. "It's draining me."

"Ok, don't worry; we'll get you out of here."

"Who said I was worried?"

Mac gave me a quick smile and then went about cutting off all the little branches that were holding me. It was quite a challenge what with all the other branches desperately trying to hold her down to. She managed to cut all the small branches but there was no way that she would be able to cut through the larger one.

"What now?" I asked in a whisper, finding it hard to muster enough strength to actually talk.

"Still thinking about that…" Mac trailed off and looked at the other knife-branches who were eyeing her up. "And I just found an idea."

It was quite interesting to watch really. Mac had managed to get the full attention of both of the knife-branches and they were chasing her as she made her way through the branches. Then she led them through the branch attached to me. They were so intent on chasing her down that they didn't look to where they were going and they cut clean through that which held me up.

I fell swiftly to the floor and landed with a painful thud. Tobi was quick to rush over, ready to help with the branch, but it was gone by the time he reached me. It had simply just disappeared. Tobi fell to his knees at my side. "Are you ok?"

"I can't really move," I whispered, I was still drained of all my energy.

"Ok, let's get you out of here," Tobi lifted me off the ground and I saw Mac jump down from the tree, the branches reaching out, trying to grab her and Aaron.

"Time to go," she raced pass us and Aaron followed as we headed back in the direction of where Mac and I had met up.


End file.
